Glyph-shaping poster fail
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Reposted from my Facebook:
This is a poster for a Christmas Party hosted by Campus for Christ which is found all over UW campus. The problem with it is that the Arabic writing at the top is wrong. As anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of the Arabic script knows, the letters should be joined, and they change their shape according to position. Clearly, someone had typed the word “Christmas” into a translation program on a computer not equipped to handle Arabic glyph-shaping, and put it on the poster without actually bothering to check it with anyone who can actually read Arabic.
Lesson: If you’re going to plaster something all over campus in a foreign language, do yourself the favour of getting someone who actually knows the language to translate it for you so you don’t massively embarrass yourself. I’m sure there’s at least one Christian who knows Arabic on UW campus. Seriously.
In today’s world, it’s very important for computer software to be able to support multiple languages. You can’t assume that, just because your software is sold in a predominantly English-language market, your users won’t try to use it with other languages.
In a previous post, I noted the current lack of support for glyph-shaping and other aspects of complex text layout on the Android phone. I hope that this changes in the near future (and, if I have any say about it, it will).
– davinci 11859
Perimeter Scholars International — Master’s program in Theoretical Physics
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I was asked to pass this information along to anyone who might be interested:
Canada’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), in partnership with the University of Waterloo, welcomes applications to the Masters level course, Perimeter Scholars International (PSI). Exceptional students with an undergraduate honours degree in Physics, Math, Engineering or Computer Science are encouraged to apply. Students require a minimum of 3 upper level undergraduate or graduate courses in physics. PSI recruits a diverse group of students and especially encourages applications from qualified women candidates. The due date for applications to PSI is February 1st, 2010. Complete details are available at www.perimeterscholars.org.
There’s also a downloadable poster with more information at this link.
– davinci 11855
My depression in Waterloo, part 1: the first term
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Published by
davinci on
May 18, 2009 in
autobiography and personal.
Tags: abusive parents, authoritarian parenting, authoritarian parents, autobiography, Christianity, creationism, Golden Age of Islam, historical negationism, Institute for Quantum Computing, Jeff Shallit, Michele Mosca, quantum computing, Raymond Laflamme, Stephen Hawking, University of Waterloo, Waterloo.
The previous series of posts, called “The causes of my depression”, established the triggers that set off my depression. Since coming to Waterloo, I have been encountering these almost every single day. I am therefore beginning a new series on (the effects of) my depression in Waterloo. As before, these posts were expanded from notes I took after my sessions with UW Counselling and a private psychiatrist.
The University of Waterloo is run on a system of three terms (or semesters) of four months each per academic year. The first term actually went very well for me, right up until near the end of the term, when I made the mistake of consenting to a visit from my parents… » [Expand post]« [Collapse post] [Permalink]
Writing my Ph.D. Research Proposal live
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One of the requirements of the Ph.D. program in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo is the Comprehensive-II (Depth) requirement, which consists of a written research proposal and an accompanying oral presentation.
I have decided to write my research proposal live and online. Besides being a way to test out theories about electronic publishing as well as an excuse to experiment with the relevant technologies, I have a more personal reason for doing this.
Over the years, I have acquired a number of absolutely horrendous academic habits due to the necessity of hiding my studies from my parents, such as keeping a low profile and limiting my publishing. I would usually not even begin a project unless I believed that there was a chance I could complete it without being discovered, and would reveal it only after it was already a fait accompli… » [Expand post]« [Collapse post] [Permalink]